As the Maclay varsity soccer seasons for both the girls and boys came to an end, some of the best players from each team got the opportunity to showcase their talent on a different stage. On Mar.1, the Tallahassee Soccer Club hosted city all star games for both the boys and girls that took place at Gene Cox Stadium.
Wednesday marks the Tallahassee Soccer Club’s second ever year hosting the event for the boys, and the first ever time for the girls. Both games included players from several schools outside of Maclay including Florida High, Lincoln, Suwannee, Chiles, Leon, Rickards, John Paul ll, Taylor County and Gadsden County.
“Being able to play against so many good players from other schools and rivals was a great experience,” senior James David Milford said. “It’s unfortunate that my soccer career is over and I’ll miss it but I’m glad I was able to finish out with this [the all star game].”
The players selected from the Maclay girls varsity squad included senior Grace Reichelderfer, senior Sofia Paredes, senior Maddy Meeker and junior Lawre Bradley. From the boys team, Milford, senior RJ Hosay and junior Aiden Merritt were selected. Hosay could not play however due to injury.
The girls game started at 5:00 p.m. and ended with a score of 2-0 in favor of the team without any Maclay players on the roster. The boys game began at 7 p.m. with Merritt and Milford contributing to a 2-1 win for their all star squad.
“I went into this game like I would any other game from this season,” Merritt said. “Even though the game doesn’t actually count for anything, I always want to compete the hardest and help my team win.”
After each game was over, the Tallahassee Democrat was there to announce the Big Bend Player of the Year for both the girls and boys. Senior Paige Churchill from Lincoln won the award for the girls and senior Braedon Paul from Wakullla won the award for the boys.
“I just wanted to go out there and have fun and I did just that,” Meeker said.
